Youth UpRising - Approved
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Located in the heart of East Oakland, YU is a neighborhood hub offering young people services and programs to increase physical and mental wellbeing, community connection, educational attainment, and career achievement among youth members.
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Brittney Deadwiler
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07-03-2018
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05-22-2023
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N/A
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How To Contact
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General Contact
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8711 MacArthur Blvd
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Oakland
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CA
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More Information
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05-06-2022
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05-31-2024
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free
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0.00
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Youth UpRising
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94605
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Helpful Links
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Detailed Information
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Must live in Alameda County
Be between the ages of 13- to 24-years-old
Attend orientation
Education Support
We work with a broad range of youth, from those primed for a four-year university to those struggling to graduate high school. We help our members complete high school or their equivalency exam and guide them through the transition to post-secondary education.
Job Readiness and Placement
YU offers education and training to help youth acquire skills that will make them competitive in the marketplace. Our goal is to prepare youth to transition to permanent career track employment in a variety of high demand local industries including food manufacturing, data management, and digital media.
We administer a summer jobs program funded by the Oakland Mayor’s Office to provide soft skills training for youth, placing 200 youth in jobs in the for-profit, non-profit, and government sectors each year.
We also provide real-world employment experience through job placements onsite in one of four of YU’s social enterprises, in the broader community, and through internships, subsidized employment and service-learning projects that build skills and help those with community-service obligations to complete their hours.
YU Achieve
YU Achieve is a nine-month intensive fellowship that bridges young people to economic opportunities and self-sufficiency through comprehensive supports, engaging curriculum and work experience. The program’s cohort model fosters a sense of community, valuing individual and peer group progress. YU Achieve curriculum is intended to support young people to overcome the emotional, social, educational and vocational barriers to their self-sufficiency. Young people interested in a fresh start or some support in doing things in a different way should sign up for this program. YU Achieve is more than more than a job-it is a personal journey.
Peer Group Sessions
YU offers a variety of weekly group sessions that give youth the opportunity to build positive relationships, and grow alongside their peers. These sessions include:
- We OUT Here! - session for LGBTQ youth and allies - Tuesdays at 4 pm
- Sister Circle - session for young women - Wednesdays at 2:30 pm
- Man Up - session for young men - Wednesdays at 3 pm
- Art Class - session for all youth - Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4 pm
Counseling for Healing and Health
YU is on the forefront of mental health care for transitional age youth and is helping create new policies and best practices to serve traumatized and violence-exposed youth statewide. We offer youth:
YU’s team of Case Managers (CMs) works with members to set and meet educational, career, and life goals. CMs serve as mentors, life coaches, and advocates and guide and track ongoing member involvement. They coordinate with other systems (foster care, juvenile justice, law enforcement) to interrupt cycles of recidivism. The goal is to not only engage and retain youth in YU programming, but to move them forward toward their specified goals and life plan.
Holistic Wellness
YU offers weekly alternative health clinics. YU provides non-Western healing arts, stress management, and preventative health services, including:
Physical Health
In partnership with Children’s Hospital Oakland, YU brings adolescent health care to a neighborhood where none previously existed. The Clinic provides preventative and urgent care services, including:
- Physicals and immunizations
- Treatment for acute and chronic illness
- Testing for sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy
- Counseling to support youth struggling with sex- and sexuality-related issues
- Preventive health screening for asthma, diabetes, and hypertension
Sports & Physical Fitness
YU offers exercise activities that promote teamwork, physical fitness, and confidence. YU houses a regulation-size basketball court and has plans to build a lead-free Astroturf baseball and soccer field. YU also has a fully outfitted skate park—the first of its kind in Oakland. We also offer a variety of hip-hop dance classes.
Music
Reflecting Oakland’s long history as a trendsetting music hub, YU offers a variety of music and recording-arts instruction that take advantage of youths’ love of hip-hop and R&B to engage them in marketable skill-building activities. YU’s Music programs include training in:
Performing Arts
Performing Arts at YU is a space of kinetic energy and uninhibited creativity. Performances allow youth to express themselves physically and poetically, and offer much-needed release from the stress of living in high-crime, low-income environments. Events showcase youth talent and help them build professional skills in event planning and production, stage management, and soundboard engineering.
On the third Fridays of every month at “Free Style Fridays” youth rappers, dancers, singers, poets, and musicians come together “clean and conscious, ‘cause we build our community up, not down” to make music and share their talents.
Video/Film Production
Our video program enables youth to capture the character and vitality of East Oakland through the stories of those who live there. Student work is primarily nonfiction, chronicling youth views and experiences while addressing emerging social issues. Youth learn camera, lighting, sound, video editing, and graphics and titling effects. Youth write, direct, produce, edit, and distribute their work with the help of YU Digital Media staff. Several youth pieces have won awards and the YU YouTube Channel has had over 1.8 million unique hits.
Visual Art
YU’s Visual Art workshops integrate fine arts with training in applied digital arts to enable youth to develop vocational skills as well as a professional portfolio of their work. Offerings include:
Civic Engagement
Youth Leadership Development & Civic Engagement activities and programs involve youth leaders in improving their community while developing their capacity to become agents of change. Activities range from round-table discussions and participation on public boards and commissions, to community organizing and public-awareness campaigns. Youth build their understanding of the social and political issues that affect us all and disadvantage some. This knowledge is then used to affect systems change and transform communities.
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Eligibility Information
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- Alameda County
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- Teen
- Adult
- High Schooler
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Files
Application Form YU Membership Form.pdf 07-03-2018
